Western Standard - ＂If we cut off our oil entirely, what then？＂： Smith warns oil export tax would devastate Canada

00:00:00.000 And in a few minutes, I'll lay out how I believe Canada should move forward boldly and unafraid.

00:00:05.560 But first, I want to address the calls I've seen from some, including the NDP official opposition leader,

00:00:12.140 to threaten export taxes or curtailment of Alberta's energy resources as a bargaining chip in this dispute.

00:00:19.980 Although I understand the need to respond strongly to these tariffs,

00:00:23.520 I cannot think of a more disastrous policy decision than cutting off or taxing Alberta's oil to the

00:00:30.160 United States. Doing so would absolutely devastate the Canadian economy. It would not only extinguish

00:00:37.060 the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Albertans, it would economically hobble our

00:00:42.460 friends and neighbours in other provinces to the east. Let me explain why. And it's important that

00:00:48.280 this be understood by every Canadian. If Canada were to put, let's say, a 50% export tariff on

00:00:57.420 the 4 million barrels of oil that we export daily to the United States, the United States

00:01:03.060 would immediately respond with a 50 to 100% export tariff on oil and natural gas that they

00:01:10.300 export to Ontario, along with millions of barrels of diesel fuel and gasoline that Ontario and

00:01:17.280 Quebec import from the Midwest. This would bring the economies of Ontario and Quebec to a grinding

00:01:23.380 halt. Meanwhile, all those refineries in the United States that currently use Alberta's heavy oil

00:01:29.060 would start looking to Venezuela for replacement heavy oil and reverse the pipelines northward to

00:01:34.640 get it to Midwest refineries. As a result, we would lose the United States as a customer entirely

00:01:40.940 and likely forever. This would result in the loss of about half a million jobs at a minimum,

00:01:46.280 mostly in Alberta, but also hundreds of thousands of jobs in Ontario and Quebec.

00:01:51.760 And if we cut off our oil entirely, what then? The same results, but even worse.

Western Standard - August 27, 2026